How to Remove an Old Lever Style Bath Tub Drain Stopper

by Dale Yalanovsky

Remove the chrome overflow plate to access the drain stopper.

For decades, the standard lever-style bathtub drain stopper was made of metal pieces and a metal spring. Over time, this setup would corrode, not seal correctly and leak. Even the chrome overflow face-plate was prone to peeling after awhile. In more modern times, plastics have replaced this tried and true system. The new plastic types will retrofit directly into the original space, and you will never have to worry about corrosion or flakes of chrome ending up in your bathtub.

1

Dry the bathtub before you begin. In most cases, the overflow face plate can be removed from outside of the tub. But for larger tubs or hot tubs, you may need to crawl inside of the tub to effectively remove the plate. The tub, however, becomes slippery when wet. So dry the tub with a towel first to give your footing a solid grip before you climb inside.

2

Locate the two screws on the faceplate. They will be to the left and right sides of the drain lever.

3

Remove the screws with a regular-blade screwdriver. Pull them out and lay them off to the side.

4

Grasp the lever with your hand and slowly but firmly begin to pull the drain linkage up and away. Depending on what type of drain stopper you have, the lower linkage may have either a spring or a bronze stopper on the end. The spring will pop out of the overflow tube as you pull it up, but the stopper, which is a cylindrical piece of brass or bronze, may hang up at the entrance to the pipe. You may have to grab the top of the stopper to pull it completely clear of the overflow pipe.

Things You Will Need

Towel

Screwdriver

Tip

There are a couple of options to replace the bathtub stopper assembly with. You can insert a plastic assembly down into the overflow pipe, or if you are using a regular type of drain plug for your bathtub, you can screw on a solid overflow face plate over the drain tube hole.

About the Author

Dale Yalanovsky has been writing professionally since 1978. He has been published in "Woman's Day," "New Home Journal" and on many do-it-yourself websites. He specializes in do-it-yourself projects, household and auto maintenance and property management. Yalanovsky also writes a bimonthly column that provides home improvement advice.

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